Soothing
by Tennoda
Summary: Times have been hard ever since Splinter passed away. Fortunately, the turtles get help from a friend who possesses an aura of calming power. She keeps the fights from escalating for some time, but then one day it doesn't work and things start changing.
1. Chapter 1

It hadn't worked. It always worked. Why not this time? Alina felt as if her stomach was being twisted into a tight knot. She watched with increasing worry as a fight between Raph and Leo began looking inevitable.

Normally she would've used the gift she had been born with and soothed both of the turtles with her touch. It was a gift that had been useful for her entire life. Until now. She had placed her hand on Raph's arm and talked to him calmingly like she always did, but for some reason it seemed to have no effect.

Raph had walked away from her without so much as a glance at her, he was completely focused on his oldest brother. Times sure had been tough after Splinter had passed away and so far she had acted as a buffer between the quarreling brothers. Even Donnie and Mikey had almost lost it at some points. Still it was Raph who was hands down picking the most fights.

"You… are not the boss of me, Leo!" The red-masked turtle hissed through his gritted teeth.

"I don't care if you keep challenging my leadership, Raph", Leonardo struggled to maintain a calm face. "But I will not have you risk our family with stunts like you did today. Your behavior is getting out of hands."

"And what the fuck are you going to do about it, oh fearless?"

Alina knew Raph was deliberately pushing Leo's buttons, hoping for a fight. She also noticed that the blue-masked turtle was running thin on patience.

Sighing, Alina went in for another try. "Hey guys, you really should cool it." She didn't wait for a permission, raising her hand on Leo's shoulder.

The effect was almost imminent. Leo took a deep breath, lowering his eyes. Then he put his hand on hers and looked at her with the slightest hint of a smile. "Thanks. I needed that."

Alina nodded and turned her attention to the still steaming mutant. "You too, Raph."

Raphael eyed her indecisively. He was angry and he wanted to be angry, but he wasn't angry at her. He watched silently as Alina walked to him and did the same she had done for Leo.

Then he looked back at Leo and his expression hardened again. "It ain't workin', Alina."

With that, he began moving towards his brother, clearly intending on finishing what he had started. Alina wouldn't let him.

"Wait!" She stepped in front of him, pressing both hands against his plastron. "Don't you find it a little odd? I mean why did it just work on Leo, but not on you?"

"Don't care. Now move it."

"No!" Alina gave him the look that meant she wasn't going to back down. "Please Raph, you have to…"

Before, Raphael had always liked the way she used that gentle determination to get her point through, but now it irritated the hell out of him. He didn't let her finish her sentence.

"I said, move it!"

He grabbed her wrists and for a moment Alina was stunned by the anger in the red-masked turtles voice.

"Raphael!" Leo's voice sounded angry now too.

Alina twisted her neck to look back and saw Leo approaching with a dark expression. This suited Raphael just fine. He let go of Alina, pushing her aside, and took on a smug grin.

"That's more like it."

Leo's eyes were flashing. He wasn't holding back anymore. "You don't lay your hands on her like that!"

Alina got out of the way as the two mutant brothers clashed. The situation had officially gotten out of hands.

"Donnie! Mikey!" She tried yelling until she remembered they were both out. Running to Donatello's desk where she knew was a shell cell, she quickly found the device and tried calling for help.

As she waited, she watched the ongoing fight anxiously. It wasn't like she hadn't seen the two of them fighting before, but seeing them kicking and punching each other around the lair with such fury… it scared her.

She was so focused, she didn't notice when someone answered.

"Hello?"

"D-Donnie!" She snapped out of it, trying to find words while her mind was racing. "You… you have to come back! It's Leo and Raph! They're at each other's throats again and this time it's bad."

"Alright, we'll be right there", Donatello got the gravity of the situation from her panicked voice immediately, not wasting any time on pointless questions.

Alina squeezed the cell in her hands, not knowing what else to do, but hating the idea of having to watch any more of the senseless fighting. She tried calling their names and begged them to stop, but to no avail. Five minutes had passed, when the situation finally took a turn that forced her to take action.

Both turtles were beginning to tire out, but neither one was ready to just stop. They were locked hand to hand in a battle of strengths and Leonardo, realizing Raph had the advantage there, changed his grip and used the momentum of his forward movement to give his adversary a painful knee to the gut.

Raphael dropped down to his knees and that gave Leonardo the chance that he needed to get behind him and grab a hold of him. But whatever force was driving Raphael to continue, it didn't let him give up. Leonardo went for a full nelson, not quite managing to close his hands together behind Raphael's neck before he started fighting back.

Alina had been hopeful for a second that maybe Leonardo was going to end the fight there and force Raph to calm down by giving him no other choice. It wasn't working, however, and Raphael got his other arm low enough to reach his sai.

Slashing upwards with it, he hit Leonardo's arm, drawing a long cut and forcing his older brother to let him loose. With speed that only a ninja could possess, he whirled around and brutally roundhouse kicked the blue-masked turtle to the ground.

Alina started moving as soon as she saw the weapon being drawn out. She grabbed the nearest thing she could use which, unfortunately, happened to be Donnie's latest unfinished invention. Hurling it at the enraged mutant she very effectively made sure that it would stay unfinished.

Her throw was accurate and the projectile headed straight towards Raphael's head. But a ninja was still a ninja even if his mind was clouded by anger. A single strike of the sai split the device in half, the pieces falling harmlessly to the floor.

She had known from the start that her actions would have consequences. Angry Raph had only one response to someone attacking him. Alina wasn't exactly helpless when it came to fighting and she managed to dodge as the athletic turtle leaped at her, but she simply wasn't ready for the intensity in which he came at her.

She stepped to the side, lowering herself to a defensive stance when Raphael landed next to her. She had no intention of fighting the strong turtle, but there had been no other choice, but to interfere. Now she tried her best to get out of his reach.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried, Raph kept up with her easily and soon Alina realized to her horror that she had her back against a wall. She made a desperate dash to get away from the dangerous situation, but was grabbed by her shoulder and pulled back.

Her back connected with the wall again and before she could even think about struggling to get free, the red-masked mutant used his body weight to pin her to the wall. Her hands were raised above her head and she was left completely unable to move.

"Raph…" She pleaded with a quivering voice, looking at the face that was looming only a few inches away.

Raphael was breathing hard and Alina could see the feral look in his eyes. She looked to Leo for help, but the blue-masked turtle was just starting to recover from the kick.

"Leo!" She tried shouting for help anyway, not knowing how far Raphael would go in his anger.

It wasn't long until she found that out.

However shocking the situation might have been so far, it was nothing compared to Raph's next move. To be more precise, him moving his face closer to hers and forcing their lips to meet.

Alina uttered a muffled sound of surprise as the searing and unexpected kiss sent a hot flash through her body. She lost all knowledge of what was happening around them and felt only the warmth of the body pressed against her.

Then she noticed the change. The weight on her eased and the kiss that was at first forceful and demanding, became less tense. Finally Raphael slowly broke the contact and drew his head back. Their bodies were still touching and Alina felt his chest heaving. When she looked into his eyes, she could see the sense returning to them and with it, regret.

Alina wasn't sure what her own eyes were showing, her feelings were too mixed to tell for sure. Suddenly Raph stepped back and she was freed.

"Alina… I'm sorry, I…" the red-masked turtle took another step back and lowered his eyes to the sai still in his hand. Its tip was red.

"Leo!" Raphael spun around and found his brother staring at them. And not just Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo had also arrived just in time to witness the rest of the scene.

"Dude…" even Mikey was at a loss for words.

Raphael looked like he was about to bolt. Alina caught his hand before he did and held him firmly in place. "Raph… it's okay", she assured, hesitantly at first, but then the guilty look on the turtle's face removed her uncertainty. She leaned in and closed her arms around him, concentrating on channeling all of her calming power into him.

"Really, it's okay."

Raph hugged her back, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "Why do I keep screwing things up like this?"

When he opened his eyes, his brothers were standing next to them and Michelangelo put a hand on his shoulder. "That's what you get for being such a hothead. Luckily…" the youngest turtle moved his hand on Alina's and flashed a smile. "…we have this here expert on dealing with hotheads, humorless leaders, techno geeks and party animals."

"Oh, stop it Mikey", Alina playfully scolded him. "You know I love you guys and it's not going to change just because times have been difficult lately."

"You okay, bro?" Raphael pretended to ignore the two and directed his question to Leonardo.

"Yeah, don't worry about it", the blue-masked turtle nodded and smiled quickly before turning and starting to walk away.

Raphael knew his brother well enough to notice that the smile had been strained. It wasn't sincere. He watched Leonardo going until a sudden remark from Mikey made them both flinch.

"So… you scored the first kiss."

"MIKEY!" was heard simultaneously from four mouths. Raphael realized that he was still holding Alina and let go quickly with an embarrassed look. Alina also looked baffled, but then to everyone else's s surprise, laughed.

"Well, he is right, can't deny that", she rubbed the back of her head and shrugged.

Raphael sneaked a peek at Leonardo, who just got his composure back. Right before he did, though, Raphael could see on his face the same expression of mixed feelings that he was feeling.

Taking an interest in his brother's reaction, he decided to get to the bottom of his true intentions. There was no way, he would have reacted like that if it was all the same what they did with Alina. When he thought about it more, Leo had started losing it when Raphael had touched her.

If there was anything that got him excited, it was the promise of kicking their fearless leader's shell in any kind of competition.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for reading this, it's always good to know i'm not the only weird, turtles-loving person. xD

**Lupinotuum**: Thank you! :) I try my best with their personalities so the story would be enjoyable. And you're absolutely right, getting those two to argue isn't difficult, it's practically mandatory. x)

**Merlin Greenleaf Varis**: Thank you very much! :D

I don't own the tmnt characters, only Alina at this point.

* * *

Alina was leaning back on the couch, watching the news absently with her hands behind her head. It was getting late, but she wasn't tired.

It wasn't easy to notice, but for the week or so that had passed, something in the lair's atmosphere had changed since the fight between Leo and Raph. Things had quieted down and there were less arguments, but it didn't feel real, more like the calm before the storm.

"Whatcha doin'?"

"Holy hell, Mikey!" Alina jumped and almost fell down from the couch. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Heh, sorry", the orange-masked turtle circled to the front of the couch, clearly not sorry at all. He sat down next to Alina and spread his arms on the back rest. "Aren't you usually getting ready to go to sleep by now?"

"Yeah", Alina admitted. "But I think I'm slowly turning nocturnal."

"That so?", Michelangelo pondered. "Welcome to the club, then. As a special joining gift you get to choose either a night on the town with me or staying here to watch bad horror movies."

"Why thank you. I guess that's your way of saying you're bored today."

"Maybe", Mikey shrugged and smiled charmingly. "But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy hanging out with you."

"Alright then", Alina gave in. "I wouldn't object to taking a little stroll out. I've been cooped up in here for too long anyway."

Michelangelo pointed his thumb behind them. "You're not the only one. Leo's, surprise, surprise, been meditating forever in his room and Donnie… well, he's been doing Donnie things in his lab. Raph at least goes out every night."

Alina knitted her eyebrows together. "Oh yeah, now that you mention it, I don't think I've even seen Donnie for days. What's he doing in there?"

"Beats me", Mikey shook his head. Jumping to his feet he extended his hand to Alina. "But I know better than to disturb him when he's working. So shall we get going?"

"Sure", Alina took the offered hand, letting Mikey pull her on her feet. He pulled a little too hard and Alina collided with him.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" She accused the orange-masked turtle. The faked irritation would've been a little more convincing a few years ago when the turtles were just beginning their growth spurts. Now she had to look up to meet his eyes, plus it didn't help that she was suddenly blushing.

The smile became a mischievous grin. "So what if I did?"

Alina raised an eyebrow. "As long as that's the only thing you're doing on purpose."

"Well, there's always the chance of me pushing you accidentally back onto the couch and…."

"No there's not", Alina patted Mikey on the cheek and walked past him, just to see Donatello's back disappear into the kitchen.

"What is it?" Mikey asked, seeing her staring at something.

"I believe Donnie just emerged from his lab."

"That's odd. Last time I checked up on him, he seemed to be nowhere near done."

"I guess he got hungry", Alina guessed, even though she knew well Donnie didn't let anything bother him when he was working on something.

"Yeah, probably", Mikey stated quickly, stepping behind Alina and starting to push her to get her moving. "Let's go already."

"Whoa, what's the hurry?"

"If we don't get going now, you'll soon wanna go talk to Donnie and that means we're not gonna get anywhere."

Alina let out a brief laughter, but didn't try to stop. "What? Are you jealous or something?"

"Nnnooo…" Mikey stretched the word, shrugging when Alina glanced at him over her shoulder. "Just a little."

The final nail in her coffin was the skill that Mikey so effectively used against her.

The puppy eyes.

"Oh, for goodness' sake, I'm going already", Alina rolled her eyes, hiding her smile.

That was Mikey for you. Ever since… things had changed, he had been more dependent of others and sometimes his way of clinging to his brothers tended to pretty much drive them crazy. That meant whenever he was after her attention, she tried not to push him away.

This seemed to be one of those times he wouldn't settle for a little time of chatting. Alina followed Michelangelo out of the lair and to the ladder that lead to the surface. The nimble mutant flew up the ladder and stopped to wait for her and to make sure the coast was clear.

"Always so considerate", Alina smirked as Mikey offered his hand to help her up. "I hope you know your own strength this time."

The night was fairly quiet, a few people here and there hurrying to their homes or wherever it was they were going. That suited Alina and Mikey just fine. They got easily enough to a nearby fire escape and up to the roof.

"What are we doing here?" Alina inquired, walking to the edge of the tall building.

"What do you wanna do?"

"I don't know. You?"

Alina realized her poor choice of words as Michelangelo immediately clung to the double entendre. "Is that so? Well, well, aren't you bold tonight."

Alina was already getting tired of being teased constantly and she turned to face the grinning turtle with a challenging look. "Yes Mikey, as a matter of a fact, I do want you right now."

She waited a second for what she had just said to register in his brain. The smug grin vanished from Mikey's face and while he was momentarily too surprised to know what to say, Alina leaned in as close as she could without touching him and whispered.

"And you know what? It's funny the way you're right away buying this."

Mikey's eyes widened in disbelief for a second, a sly grin slowly appearing. "So we're playing it like that, are we? I wouldn't if I were you."

"And why not?" Alina raised a quizzical brow, expecting more teasing, but instead, hearing something that she definitely wasn't expecting.

"Considering that everyone's got a thing for you, I don't think you should be so quick to joke like…"

"Wait, what!" Alina interrupted, thinking she must've heard him wrong. "What did you say?"

"Ooh… you really haven't noticed?" Mikey was clearly finding the situation amusing. "I like you."

"That I've noticed."

"And I'm not the only one."

"…You're serious."

"Take Raph for example", Mikey gave her a knowing look and Alina didn't have to ask what occasion he meant.

"That still doesn't mean…" she tried reasoning, but was cut off.

"Trust me, I know my brothers", Mikey assured with a tone that left no room for debating. "Donnie and Leo are just harder to read and they won't give away anything, but the slightest hints. Yet at least."

Alina tried to process what she had heard, shaking her head. "I… I don't know if I can believe any of that. You know, it might be just your imagination."

Now it was Mikey's turn to shake his head. "Nope. Want a demonstration?"

Alina had no idea what he was talking about and Michelangelo gave the smallest glance somewhere to their side, explaining. "Raph's here."

Alina almost looked, but managed to stop herself. "So?"

"Follow my lead and I will give you that demonstration."

"Okay…" Alina agreed uncertainly.

Mikey turned his back on her and lowered himself on one knee. "Get on then. We're switching location."

Sighing, Alina grabbed a hold of his shell and let him support her legs. Unfortunately, a piggy-back ride was the most convenient way any of the turtles could carry someone while jumping from building to building. It wasn't that Alina didn't trust Mikey's abilities, on the contrary. She had witnessed them growing up from teenagers to young adults, and as they had grown in size, their strength and skills had also grown.

It was just that, as someone who had spent their entire lives doing crazy ninja stunts, they weren't were good at taking normal people into consideration. Especially Michelangelo, who practically thrived on opportunities to make his unsuspecting victims beg for mercy with his death defying moves.

"Take it easy this time, will you?" Alina tried to suppress her nervousness as Mikey backed up from the edge to get a running start. "You know I'm not a big fan of heights."

The grin he gave her as he turned his head, together with his answer didn't do much to comfort her. "I'm not making any promises."

"Oh no", she muttered and then they were off.

As they crossed the first empty space beneath them, Alina really wanted to close her eyes to avoid seeing how far below the street was or how far they were from the next building. She knew better, though, having learned from previous experiences that it was wiser to be able to brace herself for the next landing. Besides, she got easily nauseous and closing her eyes while they were jumping down from somewhere high always made her stomach go the other way.

It still was definitely amazing what any of the turtles could do and Alina respected that. When she didn't have to witness it this close.

Michelangelo must have noticed that her hold was quickly changing into a death grip, but he clearly wasn't letting it bother him. He kept leaping from roof to roof until they reached a gap that was too wide to jump.

"Could you tell me already, what's the point of this?" Alina felt relieved that they had stopped.

"Soon", Mikey promised, suddenly letting go of her legs. "Hold on tight for a second, would you?"

He didn't have to tell her that, since from the very first jump she had wrapped her arms and legs around him so tightly, they would've needed a crowbar to pry her loose. It didn't help when she realized they weren't done yet.

"Whoa, whoa, Mikey you're not going to…"

"Cowabungaaa!"

"YOU'RE CRAZYYY!"

This time Alina closed her eyes as they went over the edge again, too terrified to look as they started falling down. Her own scream still echoed in her ears as well as the wind blowing past her.

Then, all too soon, the landing struck her hard, but not hard enough to make her lose her grip. She held on, doing her best to get back the air that had been knocked out of her.

"You still there?"

Michelangelo's voice was cheerful, and Alina hated that.

"I… am so going… to get you for this…"

"Whaaat?", Mikey protested, then laughed. "We made it didn't we? Besides, you're too sweet to start wreaking vengeance."

"Oh, we'll see about that", Alina threatened, her eyes still closed. She knew without looking that they were hanging on the side of the building and she wasn't going to open her eyes until they were standing on something sturdy.

She didn't say anything else to Mikey's chuckling as he started climbing to the roof. Only after she felt him take a couple of steps forward, did she finally look and let her limbs relax. She slid down from his back, finding out to her surprise that all the strength had left her feet. She would have collapsed if Mikey hadn't noticed and caught her quickly.

"Well, isn't this perfect", the orange-masked turtle couldn't have looked more pleased with himself if he had tried.

"Are you going to reveal your master plan at last?" Alina tried to hide her embarrassment for having to be supported to stay on her feet.

"Alright", Mikey sounded enthusiastic as always. "Let's recap. Raph was there, right?"

"Right."

"And he decided to stay hidden and not come talk to us."

"Riiight."

"Why do you think that is?"

"I don't know", Alina wasn't quite getting the point. "He didn't want to disturb or he wasn't in the mood for talking."

"Well, the latter would usually suit him pretty well, _but_…" Mikey emphasized the last word like a great detective about to reveal the butler did it. "But that doesn't fit here, since he has followed us. Now why would he do that?"

Alina wasn't sure she was too happy with where they were going with this. "You're suggesting he has followed us to somehow prove your point."

"Exactly. He's jealous, you know."

"You're forgetting one thing", Alina still held on to her skepticism. "I can't see him. For all I know he's not even there and you're just making this up."

"If it's proof you want", Mikey got a look on his face that made Alina immediately regret saying anything.

She gasped when he dipped her backwards like they had been dancing, and brought his face close to hers. "Just wait and see."

Alina had only a few, stunned seconds to stare at the face that was grinning knowingly at her, before they heard the familiar, gruff voice.

"Anyone feel like fillin' me in on what's goin' on in here?"

Alina turned her head and saw the red-masked turtle standing on the edge of the building with his arms crossed and an inscrutable look. Then she turned back to Mikey, who was giving her his best 'I told you so' -look.

Crud.


	3. Chapter 3

More turtles. Today it's Donnie's turn to act strangely. :)

**Guest:** Here you go. ^^ Happy to hear you liked it. :D

**Lupinotuum**: Thanks! :D Oh, I could never choose just one turtle. x)

**IAmTheDragonEmpress**: Oh no, stop it! I can't take that Mikey-look! Here you go, i wrote more! Just have mercy! XD

* * *

It was the last time for a while that Alina really spent time alone with Mikey, even though that didn't stop him from giving her meaningful looks from time to time. He had made her think about things. About things that confused her. She still didn't quite believe everything he had been trying to tell her. But then again, there were things she couldn't deny, like him telling her straight out that he liked her.

She liked all of them too, of course, but she knew he hadn't meant it the way she did. Now she had no answers to her own questions. How was she supposed to react to something like this?

Alina had been fighting for too long with these kind of thoughts and she was beginning to tire of getting nowhere. She desperately needed someone to talk to, she just didn't know where she could find that someone.

In the meantime, she decided to try and find something else to keep her mind busy.

"Donnie, you okay in here?"

She entered the mess of a lab, careful not to touch any of the strange thingamajigs that lay around. There were already too many occasions of Michelangelo doing so and causing havoc of impressive proportions.

The reason Alina was going to see Donatello in particular, or at least what she told herself, was that he always had something he was working on. He also always loved to talk about his work using complex explanations and his most incomprehensible brainiac words that caused a lot of frustrated looks in those unfortunate enough to be stuck listening to him.

The other reason, she didn't give much thought to, but she still acknowledged it. She felt the least threatened by the gentle and rational turtle. She just wanted a nice, normal conversation that wouldn't include any hidden meanings or talks about her relationships to the others.

Damn, Mikey. How had he managed to screw up her head like that?

Alina's call went unanswered, but it wasn't because of the purple-masked turtle's absence. Well, just absent-mindedness.

A faint smile pulled the corner of her mouth up as she saw the hardworking genius with his most concentrated look, fiddling with tools so intricate and small that she found it hard to believe they moved so precisely in his large, three-fingered hands.

She stood there, quietly watching his progress, not needing anything else. Just this peace she felt Donatello was getting from following his lifelong passion.

Eventually he lifted his eyes from his work to acknowledge her presence. "Thank you."

Alina smiled perplexed. "For what?"

"For not interrupting. Had it been Mikey, I would've already heard the…"

"Whatcha doin' Donnie, yeah, I know", Alina laughed, seeing the mental image of the common situation clearly.

"Exactly", Donnie too smiled knowingly.

"So… you mind if I ask what you're doing?"

"Coming from you, no. I'm just working on something for the battleshell."

Alina opened her mouth for the inevitable follow-up question, but before she could, Donnie raised a questioning eye ridge. "Are you sure you want me to explain more?"

Alina closed her mouth quickly and made a gesture of zipping it up.

"That's what I thought."

Still silently, Alina placed her hands together and gave an overexaggerated apologetic bow. Donnie snorted and set his tools down on the table. "You've been hanging out with Mikey, haven't you?"

"Yea…" Alina replied hesitantly, remembering again what she had been trying to forget. The uncertain look on her face only lasted for a brief moment, then she was smiling again.

If she thought she had managed to cover up the sudden change, she was underestimating Donatello's powers of observation. His eyes got an inscrutable look, but as quickly as Alina had hidden her expression, he also hid his. Getting up from his chair, Donatello picked up the device he had been working on and placed it in the woman's hands.

"Now that you're here, you might as well help me with this."

Alina stared in disbelief first at the purple-masked turtle and then at the undoubtedly very delicate thing in her hands. "Umm… are you sure you want me to…"

"Consider this", Donatello lifted a finger to interrupt her. "Have you ever seen Raph and Mikey doing the dishes?"

"Oh yes", Alina said with a low tone that revealed she indeed had. "You made your point. And I know Leo's always busy with his exercises."

"So you'll help?"

"Of course I will."

Alina glanced again at the gadget she was holding. "So what do you need me to do?"

Donatello motioned her to follow him and led her to the elevator that would take them to the garage on the surface. "Just keep it steady while I attach it."

Alina nodded, happy to have found something simple, but distracting to do. The battleshell was right in its usual spot, a panel removed from its side, showing the interior filled with wires and circuitry. Donatello fetched the toolbox he kept inside the vehicle and showed Alina where to place the device.

Alina lifted her hands up where she had been instructed and held them carefully in place. It wasn't the most comfortable thing to be doing since she had to reach pretty high, but she managed.

"Are you going to tell me at all what this is for? Without the technical mumbo jumbo I mean."

Donatello had collected some wires and came to her side. "Basically, it's going to fix some problems with the battleshell's remote control system."

"Oh, alright."

Alina turned her eyes away from the device she was supporting and couldn't help but admire the work being done next to her. She had always found the combination of brain and brawn fascinating and Donatello was most definitely a textbook example of that.

After a while he switched to her other side and Alina was surprised to notice that she'd been staring at the muscles in his arms without even realizing it herself. She turned back to her own, slowly tiring arms, hoping desperately that her embarrassing blunder had gone unnoticed.

When Donatello kept working without a moment's interruption, she let out a silent sigh, certain that the ingenious turtle was too deeply concentrating again to notice anything.

"Keep it steady now."

Alina was startled by the unexpected request that cut her thoughts short. Her head jerked towards Donatello, who at the same time stepped behind her and reached over her. She was too baffled by the sudden situation to say anything, but her whole body tensed up.

She could feel him standing close, both of his arms going past her head from either side. He wasn't quite touching her and his hands were busy securing the device in place, but still, him looming over her like that, it made her thoughts and emotions run wild. Before she knew what she was thinking, she was imagining how it would feel if the purple-masked turtle ran his hands over her.

Right then he leaned forward and his stomach touched her back.

Alina's breathing hitched and she cursed the involuntary reaction in her mind. The couple of seconds that passed after that might as well have been ages.

"I take it you've been talking with Mikey."

That got Alina to abandon her task at hand and spin around to face Donatello, even though at the same time she realized her cheeks were a deep shade of red.

"What?"

Donatello was left holding on to his device when Alina suddenly let go. He said nothing, fixing a steady gaze at her that made it clear he knew that she knew what he was talking about.

Alina found no words. She wasn't prepared for this and she wanted out. She made an effort to duck under Donnie's arm, but he moved it in her way to stop her.

"Please Alina, don't run away."

The gently uttered request was just what was needed to stop her. She remembered again who she was with and felt suddenly ashamed of her reaction. She trusted Donnie, she always had. And he had always been worthy of that trust.

"I'm sorry", she took a deep breath and met Donatello's eyes again. "I… I overreacted, and…"

"There's no need for you to be sorry", Donnie raised his hand back up behind her and with a few flicks of his wrists he had secured the device. Alina eyed the purple-masked turtle suspiciously.

"Was everything you were doing up until now just for show?"

"Pretty much", Donatello backed down with an apologetic smile, putting his tools away. "So it's me who should be sorry."

"Definitely yeah", Alina agreed, not quite able to get angry at the sincerely smiling mutant. "I just don't get why you would do this?"

"Would you have told me the truth if I had straightaway asked what you've been talking about with Mikey?"

There was no point in dodging the subject anymore. Alina crossed her arms and sighed in defeat. "No, I wouldn't have. So did you have something you wanted to talk about?"

"Just wanted to know how you're holding up", Donatello reached out, coaxing her hands to join his. "I was worried."

Alina tried her best to be angry with him and stay resolute, but found she still simply couldn't. She gave up and let him past her defenses.

"Has Mikey been talking about it with everyone?"

"No. Just me."

Alina lowered her eyes to the hands that were holding hers and tried to think. What could she say? She still wasn't any wiser than before she came to see Donnie. Looking back up she caught a brief glimpse of something sad in Donatello's eyes that brought up another question.

Was there something he wanted her to say?

Whether it was her imagination or not, at the moment there was nothing she could say. She could've asked how Donnie felt about her, but it wouldn't have seemed fair, since she knew she couldn't answer him if he asked the same.

"I'm fine, Donnie", she assured him, putting up a carefree smile. "Confused, but nothing a little time to think won't fix."

"That's good", the purple-masked turtle nodded. "But you do know, you can come talk to me whenever you feel like it?

"I know and I will", Alina promised.

Donatello let go of her hands, smiling sheepishly. "And don't let Mikey get to you. His mouth runs too quickly for his head to keep up."

"Tell me about it", Alina laughed and turned to leave. "You should invent something for that."

"Hey, I'm not a miracle worker."

"If you say so."

As she walked back to the elevator, Alina glanced behind to see Donatello had already gone back to work. Their conversation had left her more puzzled. Not because of his way of tricking her into talking. It was more that after he had managed to do that, they hadn't really talked about anything after all. What had he been after?

Somehow she now missed the straightforward talk she had had with Mikey.


	4. Chapter 4

**IAmTheDragonEmpress**: Heh, glad that you like them together. :) And yes, that Mikey-look pretty much never fails. xD

* * *

The lair was as quiet as it ever got. Almost everyone was asleep and would still be for a couple of hours. The only turtle up was Leonardo, who always followed his morning schedule precisely, staying in his room, stretching and meditating until it was time to wake the others.

It was the perfect time for Alina to get some training done before they got to theirs. She didn't mind training with them from time to time and especially Raphael had often been helping her. Still, in the end, she liked doing things in her own pace. Her special powers were limited to psychic only, not physical like with the four turtle brothers.

When there was nothing much she could do, but envy their abilities to jump crazy distances or do their ninja vanishing tricks, her own training seemed pretty childish. Of course she knew they didn't think that, but she did and it was enough for her to want some training time alone.

She had already warmed up and stretched, and was ready to start the real workout. She had only one problem.

Mikey.

Or rather what Mikey had done after both her and Donnie had refused to tell him anything about their conversation (yes, of course he found out about that). He tended to get vengeful when left out of something interesting and this time he had taken vengeance by hauling her bag containing her training gear up to the top of one of the poles they used for balance training.

Alina looked at the rungs that went through the pole and sighed heavily. Climbing that thing was the last thing she wanted to do and that's exactly why Mikey had done what he had done.

There was no way she was going to let him win, though, fear of heights or no fear of heights. She would just have to bite the bullet and get going.

In a minute.

It was a different thing, like when she had gone to the roof with Mikey. When she was with any of the skilled brothers, she knew she could trust them with her life in any situation. Doing something in high places on her own, she was pretty sure she would only fall and make a splatter.

Alina put her hand on one of the rungs and already her heart started beating faster. She spent a few seconds trying to control it and gather up her courage.

"Still having trouble with high places?"

Alina pulled her hand back startled by the unannounced watcher. "Leo! Don't do that… you scared the crap out of me!"

"Didn't mean to", the blue-masked turtle stated with his arms crossed over his plastron. He had an almost unnoticeable grin as he leaned his shoulder against the doorframe of his room, watching her with a steady gaze. " You want me there to catch you?"

Alina made a face at him and then at the pole. "I know, I'm being ridiculous, but I can't help it. I just can't climb anything that isn't a staircase. And no…" she declined the offered help with a frustrated sigh. "If I'm ever going to get over this I gotta do it myself. Otherwise there's no point. If I know you're there, then I already know nothing bad will happen."

Alina wasn't looking at Leonardo when she said the last part, if she had been, she would have seen the amused look on his face briefly overcome by surprise and pride. It was rare for her to express out loud the deep trust she had for them, even this time she had done it pretty much by accident.

"Well then there are other ways", Leo walked to the light switch and without any explanation turned the lights off.

It was like a bag had been put over Alina's head. She couldn't see a thing and heard only the distant sound of snoring from Mikey's room. Geez, that turtle was loud at everything he did. Trying to force her eyes to adjust to the darkness quicker Alina strained to hear what she knew she wouldn't hear however hard she tried.

As she had guessed, soon Leonardo's hand touched her shoulder lightly. Despite that she had expected it, she felt a shudder go through her.

"What? I'm supposed to climb in the dark, so I won't see how high I am?"

"No", came the brief answer from somewhere near the floor, followed by a scratching sound and a flicker of light. "But this way you won't see me."

The darkness eased a bit as Leonardo stood up next to a candle he had just lit. Alina still couldn't see far, but luckily (or unluckily) for her, she could see the pole that was waiting for her.

"I'm not sure that's going to work", she looked up where she could faintly make out the bag she was after. She wasn't prepared for Leo already being gone by the time she looked back down. "Or maybe it will."

It was like the blue-masked turtle hadn't even been there to begin with. Alina sighed for the third time that morning and let his forehead bump into the pole. Her nervousness was increasing again, fast. It was amazing how little it took. She knew Leo was there somewhere, she knew climbing the pole wasn't hard and she knew it was stupid to be scared.

It didn't help.

She placed her foot on the first step tentatively. The world didn't end so she took another one. She kept ascending slowly, concentrating on her breathing like Leo had often taught her to do.

For a while it seemed to help. Then the realization of how high she was getting started to creep in to her mind, impossible to block out. She hesitated and stopped. Her heart was beating like crazy and her hands were sweaty. Next would come panic.

Alina squeezed her eyes shut, hanging on to her dear life. "L-Leo! I… I can't do this."

"Yes you can", the assertive voice told her.

Alina couldn't tell where it was coming from, she was too scared to concentrate on listening. "Please… Leo… help."

"Alright, calm down. I'm right here."

It hadn't taken Leonardo even a second to get to her. Alina had felt the sudden weight shift the pole and then he was there, hanging behind her, feet on the lower rung.

"Relax", the oldest of the turtle brothers ordered and placed his hand on her shoulder. It became obvious pretty fast that it was something Alina was unable to do right then, so Leonardo started slowly pulling her back until her back touched his plastron. "See, I got you. You're not going to fall, I promise you."

That got through to Alina and she finally let her hands and shoulders loosen up a little, leaning her weight trustingly back. "I'm sorry."

"You needn't be. I would have been really surprised if you had done it on your first try."

"Thanks. For understanding."

"It's hard for me not to. After all I used to suffer from fear of heights too once."

Alina's head spun back as far as she could look. "What?! You?!"

She couldn't quite see Leonardo's face, their height difference meant his head was still higher than hers, but she heard a soft chuckle from him. "Yeah, when I was a child. My fear kept paralyzing me and master Splinter had to come and get me down every time it happened."

"I'm not sure I can believe that at all", Alina snickered. "But I'm sure you were adorable. You don't happen to have any childhood pictures of you four?"

"I'm afraid not", Leo stated, quickly changing back to the main subject. "But my point is that I got over it with Splinter's help and now I'm going to help you in turn."

"How did you get over it?"

There was a brief silence before Leonardo answered. "Well, let's just say that's something I'm going to use only as a last resort."

That wasn't one of the most comforting answers, but Alina decided to let it go. After all, she trusted Leo. "Okay, I'm not going to ask if we can get down from here already."

Leonardo moved his hand which he had been resting comfortingly on her shoulder the whole time. "I thought you were supposed to go get your bag."

Alina dared to take a glance up, estimating that she had made it only about half way before her fear had gotten a hold of her. "Umm…" she weighed her options. She could go back down, which was a lot more alluring choice compared to the other one. Then on the other hand, she didn't like admitting defeat when she had a choice to keep going.

And now she had that. Leonardo's presence had taken the edge of her phobia away and she was able move again. She hated her decision. "I guess… if I don't start somewhere, I'm never going to get over this."

"That's the spirit", Leo's voice encouraged her. "Just keep concentrating on your goal."

"I'll try. Leo?"

"What is it?"

"If you dare to disappear now, I promise I'll find out from Mikey how to get back at you with the most horrible way he can think of."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Alina could hear Leonardo was smiling. She wasn't. She meant what she had said.

She started her second attempt, determined to reach the top and determined not to open her eyes at any point while doing that. Get the bag. Get the bag. Get the bag. Get the bag. Get the bag. Get the bag. There's the bag. Grab the bag. Drop the bag. Get down get down get down get down get down…

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Alina's eyes flew open and she discovered the safety of solid ground to be only one step below. Leo stood next to her with her bag on his shoulder and his usual confident Leo smile on his face.

"You did it."

Alina couldn't tell if it was the relief she was feeling or what, but she had an overwhelming desire to glomp the blue-masked turtle. She would've probably done just that if her hands hadn't had a sudden cramp and refused to let go of the rungs.

"Ow", she stepped down and carefully pried her hands loose. "Yeah I did it. With my eyes closed and you as a safety net. What an accomplishment."

"Don't think lesser of what you did just for that", Leonardo took her hands and began massaging the palm and back of her hands to get them to relax. "Nobody said you have to make it in one go. Try again tomorrow. It'll be easier every time."

Alina raised her eyes from the three-fingered hands that were gently working on hers and smiled warmly at the focused turtle. Leonardo caught her smile and gave back a questioning smirk.

"What?"

Alina stared at the face she had come to know so well over the years she had known the four turtles. It was just one of those moments she was simply happy to be there with them. "Thanks, Leo."

The oldest of the brothers didn't have to ask to know that she hadn't meant just the massaging. He also needed no words to answer her, he knew she could read it from his smile.

"So", Leonardo finished tending to her hands. "You up for some sparring before the others wake up?"

Alina was surprised by the question. "What happened to your morning meditation?"

Leo shrugged nonchalantly. "Finished it early today. I got some techniques that I think would suit your fighting style."

"Well, okay then", Alina agreed. "You got anything I could use against Mikey the next time he decides tickling me into submission is fun?"

Leo sighed with a half-annoyed look. "I guess I should have a little talk with him one of these days. He's really been clinging on to you lately."

"I've been thinking that too", Alina admitted. "Maybe you could give him something to do with you from time to time. You know, scavenging or patrolling or something like that. You haven't been doing anything together in a long while except for training. And I mean all of you. You should do something as a family."

"That includes you too, then."

Alina bit her lower lip trying not to laugh at the corny line. She retrieved her bag from Leo and punched him in the arm for grinning at her. "Oh, stop with the mushy stuff, it doesn't suit you."

Leonardo's grin just widened. "Alright then, let's get started. No special treatment, right?"

"You know me."

Alina knew she would regret having said that when she was exhausted and gasping for a breather, but she had her pride. Besides, she was suddenly feeling energetic. Everything that had been troubling her lately seemed distant now.

They were a family and it would've been foolish of her to let anything Mikey said get to her. She could just forget about it.

Unfortunately she had no idea destiny and their pasts were making plans to throw her off balance soon again.


	5. Chapter 5

**IAmTheDragonEmpress:** Here you go, pretty close at least. :) I was quite surprised that someone wanted to know more about her. Now you forced me to think of a proper plot for this story. xD It's not much yet, but more of her past will be revealed later once i get the story rolling.

**Laurenthalas**: I know, i know. xD Choosing one is simply impossible.

**Neko249**: Thanks! :D I'm glad other people like this kind of stuff too. x) And i can tell you right away that there won't be any choosing between the turtles. It would simply be too difficult for a fangirl like myself. xD

* * *

Alina had again the same dream she had been having since she moved in with the turtles. A dream that kept repeating from time to time. It consisted partly of things that had happened, partly of things that were clearly figments of her subconscious, but all in all, it felt real as hell. She had no idea why she kept seeing it, but every time she did, she woke up feeling too restless to go back to sleep right away.

It had been one of those nights and Alina had just woken up, sitting up in her bed and trying to get a grip on reality. The dream started playing again in her head, begging for her attention for some reason she didn't know.

In the dream Alina was standing by a dark river. She looked up to the sky and saw it was full of colorful stars and planets as if everything in space had started moving in closer. The sight always made her feel anxious and frightened.

She looked back down into the murky water and realized it wasn't just water, but a mixture of some kind of ooze, thick and extremely uninviting. Yet she knew that was where she was supposed to go. There she would find her friends.

She stepped into the suspicious liquid which was neither cold nor warm and kept walking until it slowly engulfed all of her. A prickly feeling like somebody had been sticking needles under her skin spread across her body as the river surrounded her.

At that point something changed, Alina knew it was not the river she was in, it was some other place, even though she could never figure out what. Her eyes were closed and she couldn't see, but breathing wasn't a problem. Loneliness on the other hand was.

The feeling of utter abandonment and despair washed over her with every step, threatening to drown her with its intensity. She kept going, however, knowing from past times of seeing the same dream that it would be exactly that feeling that would lead her to the four mutant turtles. The dream usually ended after she had found them, but the end often had small differences.

Sometimes she simply extended her hand blindly, desperate to find another soul, and always a strong hand reached back to her. Other times she could sense them, or rather their auras, before she got to them.

Their auras were strong, nearly burning, and created currents to the river that pulled her closer. She would have wanted to see them, but something kept preventing her from opening her eyes. And just at the moment she got her eyes open, she realized that she had woken up and was staring eyes wide open to the wall next to her bed.

This time the after effects of the dream were especially persistent and Alina couldn't shake it off. She was still tired, not getting enough sleep before the dream had interrupted it. Her groggy mind could come up with only one thing to do and that's what she did.

A moment later Alina's head peaked into the lair from the doorway of her room. The bright light glowing from the TV area was just what she had been looking for. With her pillow in one hand she approached the couch.

She wasn't surprised to find Raphael sitting there. Of all the turtles, he was the most nocturnal. She treaded lightly, as if she stood a chance of sneaking up on a ninja, and circled to the front of the couch.

Raphael turned to look at her, ready to ask what she was doing up so late. He didn't get that far before Alina dropped the pillow in his lap and dove to the couch after it.

"I had that dream again", she mumbled a quick explanation into the pillow, then turned her face towards the television, curling up into a ball. She placed her hand on the red-masked turtle's leg, feeling better already.

Raphael, not being big on words, said nothing and instead let his hand come and rest on her side comfortingly. Alina let out a deep, content sigh and closed her eyes, falling asleep almost immediately. Her last thought before drifting into slumberland was the feeling of absolute safety.

That was what Raphael was all about. Keeping his family safe no matter what. Sure, he was hotheaded, impatient and somewhat crude, but when any one of his brothers was in trouble, he was always the first to come to their aid, even if it meant he had to plow through a wall of foot ninjas to get to them.

Alina slept undisturbed by any dreams the rest of the night. When she woke up in the morning it took her a moment to remember where she was and then why she was where she was. A few observations later she found out that she was still grasping Raphael's leg, his arm was firmly placed on her side and someone had put a blanket over her.

Alina rolled over to her back, Raph's hand stubbornly staying on her, moving to her stomach. She watched the sleeping turtle, pushing back her urge to start snickering. Raphael's head had fallen back against the couch, one arm thrown casually on the back rest next to his head. He was totally out of it and completely unaware of how funny he looked.

Alina pulled aside the warm blanket and stretched her arms above her head, feeling well rested. She intended to quietly sneak away from the sleeping turtle, but as soon as she made an effort at moving the muscled arm off of her, she felt it twitch and reach further over her stomach.

Trying to leave his protective hold apparently triggered some kind of an alarm in Raphael's mind, since his eyes were open when Alina turned to look back at him.

"Did ya sleep well?"

"Yeah, no more freaky dreams. Sorry you got stuck with me here."

"It's fine."

Alina waited for Raph to move his arm, but he seemed to be in no hurry, continuing the conversation. "The same dream again?"

"The same", Alina sighed, feeling suddenly like she was at a shrink's reception, about to have her dreams analyzed. "It has to mean something. Something about how I met you and what happened before that."

"Ya still don't remember?"

"No, I still have the same gap in my memory. I remember my life and my parents before it and then being here with you. Nothing in between."

That was one of the things that kept bothering Alina the most. She could clearly picture the small, but cozy apartment she had called home, as well as the apartment where her parents had been living.

They hadn't been there anymore.

Well, of course the apartments were, but when she had gone back, there had been strangers living in them. She had no clue where her parents were and she hadn't been able to find anyone who would remember her. Not even friends, though at the time she hadn't had many of those to begin with.

The biggest shock had been going to the police department and seeing the suspicion in the officer's face as he had told her that she, or her parents, didn't exist in any of their records. That had scared her the most and she had bolted, narrowly escaping the police station.

After that, she had little choice, but to accept the turtles' invitation to stay with them. Even if she had been short on options there, she had never regretted staying and getting to know the mutant brothers and their now late father.

"What ya thinkin'?" Raphael's worried question stopped her from going deeper into her gloomy thoughts.

"I'm fine", she assured, knowing at the same time that her face was telling him quite the opposite. "It's just… hasn't it been over a year since you found me? And I'm still not any closer to finding out why I was just… forgotten. Left alone."

"Yer not alone", Raph reminded her a little grumpily.

"No, of course not", Alina appeased the disgruntled turtle.

"And there's no way I would ever forget ya."

"I know, I know", Alina sighed and rolled her eyes, then laughed at the sight of the quick-tempered mutant's face reddening in embarrassment.

"Sheesh, first ya get me sayin' such mushy stuff, and then ya have a good laugh at my expense. Ya know, I'd watch my mouth if I were in yer position."

Alina realized the danger she was in too late. She made an effort to roll out of the turtle's lap, but his arm kept her firmly on her back. A dark chuckle made her shudder.

"No no no no", she begged expecting the worst. Her fears were soon confirmed.

"Mikey's not the only one with quick fingers", Raphael waved his free hand in front of Alina's face before pressing one finger against her side and drawing a long line that ended up in her armpit.

"NHOHOHOO!" Alina shrieked and jerked, fighting futilely to keep the strong hands from roaming across her sensitive sides. "R-RaphEL! Stop it! I… I, ahahahh, it's not FAIR!"

"Ya know how to end it."

"I'm _not _going to gIIVE UP! N-nhe-never!"

"Suit yourself."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNGGNNNOOOOOO OO!"

"Heh, how about n… hey, what the?!"

Since there was no way for Alina to overpower the much bigger mutant, she had changed tactics and reached for his mask, yanking on it to turn it backwards. The sudden loss of vision surprised Raphael, giving Alina her opportunity.

While Raphael raised his hand to fix his mask, she went for the arm holding her, grabbing the elbow and squeezing the pressure point on it to loosen the grip. As soon as she got it, she rolled to the side and off the couch, landing on her hand and knees.

By the time Raph could see again, Alina was grinning at him victoriously from the floor. "Told you I wasn't going to give up."

The surprise melted away from Raphael's face, slowly making way for a grin of his own. "Well, well, someone's been learnin' new tricks."

Alina stood up, shrugging nonchalantly. "Leo gave me a few tips in case of, you know… Mikey."

"Yeah? What else did he teach ya?"

"I think I'd better save the rest for later just in case."

Raphael seemed curious, but instead of insisting her to demonstrate as she expected, he lay back on the couch with a sly grin. "Alright, if I get to watch when ya pull somethin' like that on Mikey."

"Sure", Alina promised, picking up the blanket and folding it neatly. Raphael handed her back her pillow. The sudden silence made them remember the original topic of their conversation and a hint of sadness returned to Alina's face.

Raphael stared at her seriously, on to her anxiousness. "Ya know, if ya wanna do somethin', ask Leo to take ya back to where he first saw ya. Maybe that'll help yer memory."

Alina's expression brightened considerably. She knew better than to get her hopes up after such a long time, but Raph had gotten it right. She needed to do something.

"Thanks! I think that's exactly what I'll do."

Already starting to get exited, Alina squeezed the pillow in her hands, ready to go and see right away if Leonardo was awake. Something in Raphael's face caught her eye, however, prompting her to stop and figure out what it was.

It didn't take her long to connect the dots. That face he had made was the kind he used to make when there were tensions between him and Leo. And there was no denying they still had those. It clearly bugged him to send her to Leo, but he was doing it because he knew it would help her feel better.

That was enough to send Alina jumping to the couch and throwing her arms around the red-masked turtle in a quick, but tight hug. "I mean it. Thank you, Raphael."

Raphael was too taken in by the unexpected show of affection to maintain his grouchy expression. "Yeah, sure."

As quickly as Alina had made the contact, she also broke it, dashing excitedly to where Leonardo's room was. The oldest of the brothers had been the first to see her when she had staggered from wherever it was she had come from. Maybe if they went there, spoke about that night, something would come back to her.


	6. Chapter 6

**IAmTheDragonEmpress**: Oh, the mystery just deepens. :) Glad that you liked the scene with Raph, it was pretty fun writing it. :D

**Lupinotuum**: Heh, i'm grateful for your interest. :D There's still more to Alina's past, but i think after this chapter i'm going to switch the mystery to some action scenes for a change. :)

**little-butterfly-wings**: Thanks for the review. Reading comments is always a great motivation. :)

* * *

Leonardo had agreed to Alina's request, but insisted they'd wait until after dark. That had left her the whole day with nothing to do but wait. It was officially the first time she had been the one to drive the turtles crazy. Even Mikey had after a while made a mumbled excuse to leave for some errand.

Eventually, though, evening came and Leonardo didn't dare to drag the trip to the surface any longer, sensing Alina staring at him expectantly every time she saw him. Giving the permission to leave hadn't been much better, resulting in a short, but uncontrollable fit of excitement.

Surprisingly, no one volunteered to go with them.

"I wasn't that bad", Alina muttered to herself while they moved through the sewers. The pouty look on her face was enough to make Leo look away and stifle his laughter.

"I was not!"

"Alright", the blue-masked ninja wisely put some distance between them before continuing. "If you say so."

The resulting glare from Alina was enough proof that Leo had done the right thing by not staying within her arm's reach. Luckily, unforgiving wasn't a word that described her. Knowing this, Leo soon slowed his pace again, giving Alina a mischievous smile as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and leaned in closer conspiringly.

"Truce, okay? When we'll get back, I'll hold Mikey so you can punch him."

As expected, Alina's pout broke in to an answering smile. "Thanks, but I think I'll manage. He never sees the first punch coming anyway."

They shared a brief laughter at the youngest of the turtle brother's expense. The light mood was nice, but they both knew it wouldn't last. They were already getting close to the manhole they would use to surface.

"Here", Leo signaled after he'd found the right one and made sure no one was watching on the street.

Alina hesitated for a second, looking at the ladder in front of her. Then her natural trust in the turtles' abilities to keep her safe won as it always did. She climbed up quickly, looking only at the vertical pieces of metal as her hands caught them.

When she reached the top Leonardo's hand grabbed hers and he hoisted her up with ease. They hurried quietly into the shadows of a nearby alley, making way unseen. Alina followed Leonardo's lead, unlike Raphael, accepting gladly that he was in charge.

That got her pondering the rivalry between the two brothers. It was a hefty subject to tackle, stealing most of her concentration. That was probably the reason why she was taken by surprise when Leonardo suddenly broke the silence.

"Here we are."

Alina had no idea how much time had passed when she had been in her thoughts, but now she realized they had traveled quite a way already. She didn't know the area they were in, only faintly recognizing it from what she had been told about the night she had appeared.

She saw a river and a bridge crossing it. In the dark of the night she couldn't help, but think of the river of dark ooze in her dreams.

"So… what happened here when you found me?"

"…"

"Leo?" Alina turned to look at the blue-masked turtle, confused by the lack of response.

Leonardo evaded her eyes, staring blankly at the bridge. Just as Alina was about to ask him what was going on, he answered.

"I was there under the bridge. I heard you coming by the river and waited for you to pass by. You didn't. The next thing I heard was a splash as you fell into the river."

Alina observed Leonardo's face carefully as he spoke. He might've been trying to hide it behind the expressionless face, but it was clear to her, being so tuned to his as well as his brothers' emotions, that he was in pain.

"Why were you there?" Alina asked, not meaning to utter the question in her mind aloud, but somehow doing so anyway.

Now Leonardo's head darted towards her. Her question had caught him by surprise. As soon as their eyes met, Alina was struck by an overwhelming weight of negative feelings. It left her almost breathless. How could anybody withstand something like that, not to mention keep it hidden inside?

And there was more to it.

Neither seeing the river Leo had fished her out of nor hearing him tell about it had done nothing to trigger her memory, but the things she was feeling now were undeniably familiar. She was closer to something denied from her than she'd been ever since she'd lost a part of her memory.

Alina didn't think. She reached for it, extending her hand slowly to touch the blue-masked turtle's face, trying to get a stronger feel. Leonardo grabbed her wrist before she could do so, a burdened look in his eyes.

"Don't", he demanded quietly.

"I… remember this", Alina half-whispered in amazement. "It was the same that night. I sensed it then too."

Leonardo released her hand, fighting some inner fight. Alina continued, carried away by the revelation she was experiencing.

"Grief… anger… fear… guilt… helplessness…"

"Alina…"

"I didn't fall into the river. I jumped in to find you. Don't you see? I felt you. This despair you were…"

"Alina!"

The harsh tone made Alina snap out of her excited ponderings. Immediately she realized to her horror how much more pain she was causing the katana wielding ninja with her thoughtlessness.

"Oh my… Leo… I-I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me…"

Alina couldn't tell, but the look on her face must've been utterly pathetic, since Leo's, in return, softened.

"I can't blame you", he sighed deeply, sitting down on the ground hugging his knees as if his burden had finally become too much for him to bear. "I have no right to deny you the chance of uncovering your past."

Alina dropped to her knees, not waiting to ask for a permission, and wrapped her arms around Leo's neck. She pressed her forehead against the side of his head and summoned every bit of calm she could transfer into him.

Another sigh made his whole frame shudder. Alina held on for longer until Leo shifted and brought his arm behind her back. She released her tight grip and sat next to him, leaning her head against his plastron.

They stayed like that for a moment, until Alina dared to speak what was on her mind. "Please, Leo… tell me why you feel like that."

She saw the objection coming before Leonardo could utter it, and hurried to explain. "Not for me, but for your own sake. I can tell this is something you've been needlessly enduring by yourself. I… I can feel what you feel. I can't stand the thought of you in that kind of pain."

Leonardo rubbed her back gently, still noticeably hesitant. "Well, I can't deny that now, can I? It's… not an easy subject."

"I understand. But please try."

Alina maintained a constant contact with Leo to make it as easy for him as she could. He was still indecisive, but clearly on the verge of giving in.

"It's… my brothers would never forgive me if they knew… especially Raphael."

Alina resisted the urge to look up or ask what he meant. Curiosity was driving her crazy and it wasn't easy, but she advanced carefully.

"I don't believe that, but if that's what you're afraid, you should know I would never betray your trust."

"I do know that", Leonardo gave her a light squeeze and kept moving his fingers up and down her back, probably not even noticing he was doing so. "And I guess there is a part of me… that wishes I could somehow lessen the burden I've been carrying with me."

That was it. Alina knew he was about to share his secret.

Still it didn't prepare her for what she was about to hear.

"I knew master Splinter was going to die."

Alina stopped breathing. She was pretty sure her heart skipped a beat or two also. She repeated the sentence in her head again, but it took a while before she could start processing what it meant.

"How?" her voice was barely more than a whisper. The hand had stopped at her back.

"I found him collapsed on the floor. He told me then that he was going to… that there was nothing anyone…"

Here his voice broke. He lifted his free hand from his knees and buried his face in it. Alina was surprised when she suddenly felt cold drops on her hand, and even more so when she realized it was her own tears, sneakily sliding down her face.

She felt Leonardo's chest heaving as he took deep breaths. Gaining back some control he struggled to keep his voice even as he continued.

"He immediately told me not to tell my brothers. He hadn't wanted any of us to find out and struggle and grief over something we couldn't change. He said that he was getting old and tired, and that he felt it would soon be his time. So I helped him keep his secret as long as it was possible."

Alina remembered the day Splinter had finally revealed he was sick. The suffocating pain that had hit everyone, how they had dealt with the news in their own, individual ways. She couldn't believe Leo had already known then, had been in the same pain for who knows how long. And she hadn't noticed anything. Some empath she was.

Something dawned on her then. She cleared her throat and wiped her face. "That's why you were here, hiding under that bridge. You had just found out, hadn't you?"

"Yes", Leonardo admitted in a hoarse voice. "I had to get out. Alone. The others were starting to notice that I was acting strangely."

"If you hadn't, I would've never gotten to know you guys."

The thought was scary. What if she hadn't met them? She would've wandered somewhere else in her disoriented state, not remembering anything or finding anyone she knew.

She understood Leo better, but now she had to face her own, unpleasant thoughts. She couldn't be sorry that Leo had had to come there that night. Not even when she knew the reason and that she had only found him because he had been in pain.

Alina suddenly noticed that the silence was starting to drag. She raised her head from the hard plastron, looking up at the blue-masked turtle carefully for the first time he had started his story.

Her face blushed as she realized that Leonardo was staring at her and probably had been the whole time they'd been silent. It wouldn't have been so awkward for her otherwise, but she knew that specific look he was giving her. She used to think of it as his 'mind-reading' -look, the way it was usually followed by him commenting something close to what she'd been thinking.

This time was no exception.

"What happened could've not been changed whatever anyone would've done. You finding me not just once, but twice, was miracle enough and the best thing that could've happened to us right then."

Something in what he just said, caught Alina's attention. "Twice?"

"Oh, you don't remember that? I sent you away the first time."

Alina blinked in confusion. Leonardo was gradually returning to his normal state and even let one corner of his mouth to rise in a sad start of a smile as he saw her perplexed expression.

"I pulled you out of the river and tried to talk to you, but you didn't seem to realize anything that was going on. I believed you weren't in any immediate danger, so I took you as close to people as I could. When I left, there was already a group gathering around you, calling for an ambulance."

At this point, Leonardo shook his head in disbelief. "I returned to the lair and after a while something triggered Donatello's security systems. You can imagine my surprise when I saw that it was you. You looked like a sleepwalker, but still somehow you had followed a fully trained ninja all the way to our secret lair."

"I can't explain that", Alina laughed nervously. "I thought I could only sense others when they're in close proximity. I guess there's something to start practicing."

"It could come in handy."

Alina didn't have to ask why they had taken her in. Someone who knew how to find them was obviously a potential risk to their family. She was just glad they had come to trust her.

"Then I guess I know the rest of the story."

"Everything we know."

"Thank you , Leo", she spoke softly. "For telling me everything you did. It means a lot to me to have your trust."

Leonardo lifted his hand to wipe the last remaining traces of tears from her cheeks, perfectly calm again. "I'm the one who should be thanking you for sharing my burden and not judging me."

"Judging?" Alina didn't like what she was hearing. "There is nothing you should be judged for. Not by me or anybody else, and certainly not by yourself. You fulfilled your father's wish, even though it would've been easier for you to go to your brothers for support. That's commendable if anything."

"Maybe… but that's enough about me", Leonardo jumped to his feet and helped her up, trying in vain to hide the relieved look in his eyes. "We should still follow the rest of your route, maybe it will help discover something else."

"It's worth a try", Alina agreed, though she didn't really believe they would have any success. It had been the familiar emotions that had jostled her memory, and even then just a little bit. She doubted that walking around would change anything.


	7. Chapter 7

Finally got around to continuing this. :P

**IAmTheDragonEmpress**: heh, even the toughest leaders need hugs. x)

**Brooklynberceuse**: Thanks! :) And sorry it took this long. xP

I don't own tmnt.

* * *

It was funny how wrong you could be sometimes.

"Just track the signal in my shell cell and _get here now_!"

How a simple, ordinary task, like walking through the sewers, could quickly turn into a situation of life and death.

"Alina, we have to go!"

She knew Leonardo had lots of experience about fighting various kinds of enemies, but hers was limited to some occasional street punks. He knew that too and that's why he was urging them to run, even though he probably could've fought back on his own until his brothers arrived.

"Are you sure it's even coming after us?"

Alina's question was answered with no delay. The creature whose attention they had unknowingly attracted was something from one's worst nightmares. Even in the darkness of the sewers she could see its wide-shaped head appear around the corner, turning to stare straight at them with bulging eyes.

They didn't wait for the rest of its body to follow. Leonardo took her hand while she was still staring at the creature in horror and started dragging her to get her moving. She scrambled a few steps before she got her legs working properly, motivated by the last minute glimpse at the creature as it slowly came into sight.

They ran as fast as they could, Leonardo constantly glancing at Alina to make sure she was keeping up.

"Raphael's just going to _love_ this", he muttered just loud enough for Alina to hear.

She didn't get what he meant at first, but then she started to take in what she had just seen.

The creature's large body had clearly been similar to a bug of some kind. Not all of it, it had been more like a hybrid of more than one beings, but enough that Raph would sure get creeped out by it.

They were far off from the lair and the thought didn't appeal to Alina at all. Help wouldn't be arriving right away and she didn't have the stamina to keep running as long as Leo. On the other hand, the creature had seemed to move slowly, maybe they could outrun it.

She turned to look back, slowing down. She didn't see anything, but couldn't be completely sure about the thick shadows around them.

"Let's keep going", Leonardo hurried her, making sure they zigzagged through the various tunnels as much as possible.

When he finally allowed them to stop, Alina was leaning her hands on her knees and breathing heavily, but she was also fairly confident that they had lost the creature.

"What… was that?"

"Don't know, but we'll take care of it once the cavalry arrives."

Alina kept her eyes focused towards the darkness where they had come from, while Leo picked up his shell cell again.

"Oh no…", she tugged at the blue-masked turtle's arm, never taking her gaze from the end of the tunnel.

Leo looked up and his expression hardened. He had heard it too. The loud splash, followed by shuffling and scraping sounds that sent shivers down their spines. They weren't safe yet.

"How is it following us?" Alina shook her head in disbelief.

It was hard to believe, but their eyes didn't lie. There it was again, approaching them slowly, studying maybe. It was big, with a long, thick body and several legs in a row, resembling most a centipede.

"You'll have to go", Alina heard Leonardo saying.

"What?! No! Not without you."

"There's something more to this thing, its more dangerous than it seems. I'm not putting you to risk when I don't know what to expect."

"Then we'll both run again."

Leonardo drew out his katanas with a single swish, taking a defensive stance in front of Alina. "It's faster than it's giving away and I think it's done following us."

"But…"

"This is not negotiable. Go!"

Alina recognized the unyielding tone and knew she wouldn't be able to convince him to come with her. Of course there was no way he would be able to make her leave either.

That was quickly becoming apparent to Leonardo too. He grunted in annoyance when he didn't hear her leave and took a quick glance back.

That's when the creature pounced.

It came too fast for even the experienced ninja's reflexes. Leonardo got the full force of the attack when the creature slammed into him. Alina was behind him and got knocked down when he flew backwards. After that, everything went hazy for a while.

She struggled to get up, too dazed to be disgusted by the ankle-deep sewer water she was laying in. Besides, the view in front of her was enough to distract her.

The creature certainly was keeping its most dangerous qualities hidden. Being so close to it, Alina could now clearly see the powerful legs it was hiding under its segmented body, the last two on its rear being very sharp-looking and hooked.

The face had changed too. Before they had only been able to see the round insect eyes sticking out of its head, now she saw its mouth too. The rows of wicked-looking teeth, gleaming with saliva had been exposed as it had attacked. As Alina watched, the flaps around its face that had been covering the mouth were already slowly falling back in place.

All in all, the thing was revolting.

"Leo?" Alina breathed alarmed as she got over the creature's appearance. She backed up avoiding sudden movements until she sensed the blue-masked turtle next to her. The bug creature was stalking them again, taking its time.

"Are you okay, Leo?" She hardly dared to look away, but she had to know. Somehow Leonardo hadn't dropped his katanas when he got hit. He was already getting up, a focused look on his face. It sure paid to be a mutant when you could walk away from something equaling to a collision with a runaway bus.

It took her a moment to notice that he hadn't done so totally unscathed.

"You're hurt", she forgot her caution and eyed horrified at the two deep cuts in Leonardo's arm.

"It's not that bad."

Alina frowned, thinking about the possibilities of poison or infection that could be spreading as they spoke.

"Besides", Leonardo widened his stance, readying himself. "We kind of have other things to worry about right now."

Alina nodded and moved back reluctantly. Leonardo didn't stay and wait for another attack. He charged at the monster, leaping into the air to avoid getting rammed again. Alina watched as his katanas sliced at the thick-looking skin, apparently not doing much damage.

The creature really didn't seem to care. It turned its giant head to the side as Leonardo disappeared from its sight. That seemed to be its weakness. Even if it could move forward fast, Alina doubted it could turn around as quickly.

She didn't need to tell that to Leonardo, who kept jumping on its back and away, keeping his distance from the sharp teeth that had already got him once. It would've seemed to be going great except there still wasn't any visible hurt to the creature.

Leonardo jumped on its back once again, ready to strike. This time the creature was ready, and as soon as Leonardo's feet touched its back, it started trashing from side to side like crazy.

The strength in its movements was immense, dropping Leonardo back into the shallow water in an instant. It took a large part of the wall next to it apart, making it very clear that it was still very dangerous, no matter how you tried to approach it.

Alina felt her chest tighten with worry as she expected Leonardo to be trampled under the creature's crushing mass at any second. She saw him quickly roll out of the way, but only in the nick of time. It was insufferable to watch.

Then her earlier fears came true.

Alina expected Leo to launch another attack, but what she saw instead, was his katana dropping into the water. For one dumbfounded moment, neither of them seemed to understand what had happened. Leonardo was staring at his hand that had suddenly refused to do what he asked of it.

"No", Alina whispered horrified when she realized it was the injured arm. The bug creature did have something, a poison of some kind. "Leo!"

The blue-masked turtle looked at her with a confused expression, clumsily backing away from the monster until he slumped against the wall. It looked like he was quickly losing control of his body.

The bug creature had seized its wild trashing. Its bulging eye turned in its head as it searched for its prey. Alina's head darted from the creature to Leonardo and back again, while she was frantically trying to figure out what to do.

The effort was futile, so she abandoned logical thinking straightaway and went with her instincts. Leonardo's katana was still there in the water and the creature was slow in turning around. She made a dash for the weapon.

"A-Alina, what… are you… No, don't…"

Alina's worry grew as she heard how fast Leo's condition was getting worse, but it only motivated her. She picked up the katana and turned towards the monstrous bug. Leo pleaded her to leave, but Alina couldn't concentrate on him over the sounds of her adrenaline-filled body. She had never known the sound of her own blood rushing could be so deafening.

The monster was turning towards them and Alina remembered alarmed that it might pounce again, crushing them both in a second.

"H-hey you! Ugly! Over here!" she shouted, moving away from Leonardo. The creature stopped, one of its eyes fixed at the injured turtle while the other followed Alina's movements. She had no idea how intelligent it was and therefore, no way to anticipate what it would do.

She gripped the handle of the katana as if her life depended on it, still making noises to attract the bug creature's attention. When it didn't seem to be enough, she shakily picked up one of the bricks that had been broken off the wall and threw it as hard as she could.

It hit the creature straight in its revolting face. Now its other eye turned to Alina too, and for a second, she thought she had gotten what she wanted, but then instead of attacking her, it chose to ignore her and go for the easy prey first.

"No no no no!" Alina screamed in fear and frustration, her desperation driving her to do anything to keep the creature from going after Leonardo. Right then anything meant charging at it and plunging the katana deep into its eye.

Thick fluids squirting out of the punctured eye and the rows of long, sharp and poisonous teeth right next to her face as the monster opened its mouth to roar were the last coherent thing Alina understood. The world around her disappeared in one hot flash of pain.

There were some vague feelings, including the feel of flying, but it was all one unrecognizable mess, topped by the burning pain that left her breathless. Panic quickly rose to the same level with the pain as it dawned on her that she couldn't draw breath because she was underwater. She lifted her head up, finding air again, but everything was still spinning and she couldn't focus her eyes on anything.

A strange buzzing sound filled Alina's ears. For a moment there she remembered Leo again and even thought she heard his voice. She couldn't find the strength to turn her head and search for him. In fact, what little strength she had was fading fast and her head was starting to get more difficult to hold up.

Darkness was closing in on Alina, dulling the pain bit by bit, which was more than welcome. Somehow she knew it was bad, but couldn't quite figure out why. Strangely, the noise in her ears kept getting louder even though her other senses were failing her.

There was no time to ponder about it, though, as Alina's head slipped back down and she succumbed to the all engulfing darkness.


	8. Chapter 8

**IAmTheDragonEmpress**: Yeah i guess it resembles that. xP Dramatic episodes those were. xO

**CreationImagination**: I love cliffies. xD Sorry about that, but i hope this was fast enough.

**ahsokatano123456**: Thanks! I got to work on this one as fast as i could. :)

I don't own tmnt.

* * *

Waking up had been far from a pleasant experience, though, from what Alina had been told, she should've been happy that she had woken up. Somehow she just hadn't been able to rejoice when the first thing she had felt was a mixture of strong, pulsating pain and something resembling a bad hangover.

Then an excited turtle face had popped into her view. "You're awake! She's awake! Donnieee!"

"M-Mikey…?" Alina had stammered tiredly, but the orange-masked turtle had already ran off to somewhere. The earlier events had started to flow back into her memory and by the time Mikey had returned with Donnie they had found her struggling to sit up on her bed.

"Whoa, slow down", Donnie had hurried to her side and pressed her gently, but firmly back down. "You're not going anywhere until I say it's okay."

"Leo? Is Leo alright? He was… and I… what happened?"

Donnie and Mikey had both assured her that Leo was just fine, better than her actually and after a while, Alina had reluctantly agreed to wait for Donnie to check her up before they would go get Leo.

She had learned that help had arrived with the sewer sled right when she had lost consciousness, which was why she hadn't drowned. Long story short, the creature had been defeated and they had rushed back to the lair where Donnie had patched them up as well as he could. The poison Alina had been so worried about had turned out to cause quick, but only temporary paralysis.

Donatello had finished his examination quickly, declaring that she would be fine and should merely mind the stitches. Now Alina was waiting for Donnie to return with Leo and Raph, feeling the said stitches that ran from the side of her neck and over her heart with her finger, where apparently one of the creature's teeth had cut her pretty badly. She knew Donnie had left the possibility of infections unmentioned, but she couldn't bring it up.

Not when Michelangelo was sitting next to her bed with bright eyes and his usual happy smile.

Alina propped herself better against the pillow Donnie had placed behind her back so she could rest in a half-sitting position. "What?" she asked amused when the youngest of the turtle brothers kept staring at her with the same look.

"Nothing", Mikey's smile widened. "Just glad you're okay."

Alina shook her head with a smile. "Of course I'm fine, don't be silly."

A brief flicker of sadness shadowed Michelangelo's eyes. "You looked pretty bad when we found you."

Alina lost her smile, realizing the worry she had caused to the others with her little stunt. She felt a twinge of guilt, even though she knew she wouldn't do anything differently. "Come here, Mikey", she urged the orange-masked turtle with extended arms.

Her invitation didn't go unanswered as Michelangelo threw himself at her, closing his arms around her in a tight hug.

"Hey now, Mikey. I still need to breathe", Alina couldn't stifle a laughter brought by the genuine, uninhibited burst of affection.

"Yeah, Mikey. Don't ya go breakin' her when the genius here just put her back together."

"Hey guys", Alina greeted as the rest of the turtle brothers entered her room. She felt as happy as Michelangelo looked to notice that everyone seemed to be okay. Then she took in their expressions.

"What's wrong?" confusion was evident in her voice, but she tried to keep her own expression light. "Everyone's fine, right? And I don't feel like I was even out for long."

"You slept through the night, that's all", Donnie reassured her.

Alina was about to ask what was it then, when Leonardo walked over to her and sat on the side of the bed, locking eyes with her. The look on his face was anguished.

"What's wrong here, is that you got hurt because I wasn't careful enough."

Alina nearly laughed at that. He seriously wasn't just blaming himself for something they had no way to prepare for? Then something occurred to her.

Stealing a glimpse at Raphael, who stood in the doorway with arms crossed and a harsh look, she got a pretty good idea where some of Leo's guilt was coming from. When she turned back to the blue-masked turtle, it was with serious determination.

"Listen to me, all of you. Unexpected things happen. Injuries happen. No matter who you are, or who you are with. I thought you already knew that better than most. I'm not blaming anyone and no-one needs to be blamed for my sake. Do I make myself clear?"

The last sentence was meant especially for Raphael, but by the time Alina had finished talking and tried to see if he had anything to say, he had already disappeared. Frowning, she stared at the empty doorway, knowing she would have to have a talk with him.

"Alina…" Leonardo caught her attention again. "It's not that simple. I'm supposed to be the leader of this family. I'm responsible for all of you. I can't just ignore what happened… Look at you."

Alina didn't think she looked that bad, but then again, she couldn't really tell. "You can't dwell on what happened either. It's not gonna help anyone."

Leonardo's hands closed around her shoulders, clutching tighter than he probably realized. "I saw you there."

His voice was tense and gaze almost feverish as he continued. "I saw you hit the water and the water around you turning red. I watched you lying there, not getting up. And I… couldn't do anything to help you."

Suddenly Alina didn't know what to say. She placed her hand on Leonardo's, but as soon as she touched him, he pulled away, standing up. "You should get some rest now."

The conversation ended bluntly and Alina could only stare after the oldest turtle as he left. Mikey and Donnie looked away clearly feeling uncomfortable.

"So…", Alina began quietly. "I take it Leo and Raph have been talking about this."

"Talking…", Mikey grimaced. "…might not be the right word."

Alina sighed. "I'll talk to them."

"That's going to have to wait", Donatello was quick to stop her before she could even think about getting up. "Leo was right about you needing to rest. Take it easy today, trying to reason with those two will just get you upset and that's not going to help you recover."

"I'd do what he says if I were you", Michelangelo whispered intentionally loudly. "I'm pretty sure he will carry out his threat from the last time."

For a second, Alina's mind was blank, then she remembered. The occasion Mikey had been referring to, was the last time she had been sick and had refused to stay in bed when Donatello had advised to do so. She had started practicing in secret as soon as she felt better and unfortunately that had caused her sickness to come back worse.

If she remembered correctly, Donnie had found out and promised to chain her to her bed the next time she felt like disobeying doctor's orders.

"I will", the purple-masked turtle confirmed, the corner of his mouth twisting upwards in a lopsided grin, making it harder to tell if he was serious or not. Alina didn't know what to think about the possibility of him having such chains in the first place and she quickly decided not to give it too much thought.

"I'm resting, I'm resting", Alina threw her hands up in defeat. "I wouldn't even dream of doing otherwise."

"Why am I having a hard time believing that?" Donatello rolled his eyes, taking a step towards the door. "Are you coming, Mikey?"

"Yeah, in a minute."

"You could make yourself useful and get her something to eat."

"I'm not really…" Alina started, but snapped her mouth shut when Donnie turned back to glare at her. "Umm… I guess I should eat something."

"Yes, you should."

"I'm on it, bro", Michelangelo promised, waving his brother off. "You go get your samples."

"Samples?" Alina asked frowning after Donnie had left. "You don't mean… not that bug?"

"Yeah that bug", Mikey shrugged. "You know Donnie. Like he's going to miss a chance to poke at something new and disgusting."

"He can't go there alone", Alina shifted alarmed, grimacing slightly as she sat up and put her feet to the floor. She would have to check out how many bruises she got hidden under her clothes.

Right then she realized something.

"Don't worry about Donnie", Michelangelo continued unsuspectingly. "He's gonna take the sewer sled and other useful gizmos."

"Mikey?"

"Yup?"

"Who changed my clothes?"

There was a brief silence, during which the orange-masked turtle's face revealed that the question had taken him by surprise and that he was desperately contemplating various escape plans.

"Mikey…"

"Oh hey, I was supposed to go get you that food, wasn't I? Gotta go!"

"Michelangelo!"

* * *

It didn't take long for Donatello to return, which caught everyone's attention as they saw him entering the lair much sooner than expected and empty-handed. Alina, who had been allowed to move in front of the TVs, turned to lean against the back of the couch, following him with her eyes, worry creasing her forehead.

The look on the brainy turtle's face was enough to raise suspicion. Something was wrong. Raphael stopped taking out his frustrations on his punching bag and opened his mouth first.

"Why back so soon? Ya couldn't find the place anymore or somethin'?"

"I found the place", Donatello answered absent-mindedly. "But I didn't find the creature."

"Ya kiddin' me?" Raphael exclaimed. "We finished that thin' and finished it good. There's no way it's still alive."

"Are you sure you were in the same place?" Leonardo cut in.

"Yes, there's no doubt about it", Donatello sighed and drew out a closed vial from a bag he had over his shoulder. "This was all that was left of it. I need to study it and see if it tells us anything. And as to the creature being alive, no I don't think it is, but we've seen some amazing regeneration abilities before so I'm not counting that out just yet."

Alina clung tighter to the back of the sofa. "If it _is _dead and not there, what does that mean?"

Everyone fell silent, until Donatello reluctantly spoke what they were already thinking. "Well, that would strongly indicate that there's something else going on in the sewers than just one loose monster."

"It would anyway be more than strange for such a creature to emerge on its own", Leonardo was getting his full serious leader mode on. "Not to mention one vanishing on its own. I don't know what it is, but something is going on and until proven otherwise, I consider it to be a threat to our family."

Raphael grabbed a sai from his belt, twirling it in his fingers. "I know how to deal with a threat."

"We all know you do, Raph", Alina had no doubts about the hotheaded turtle's abilities to solve problems with his sais. "But just how are we going to find this 'threat'?"

Four sets of turtle eyes turned to look at each other and then at her.

"No…" Alina protested, realizing what those looks were telling. "You. Are. Not. Leaving me out of this."


	9. Chapter 9

**IAmTheDragonEmpress**: Merry christmas to you too! (a little late by now :P) Yay for Mikey hugs. And about the clothes, i'm pretty sure it was Donnie since he was the one treating her. :)

**Laurenthalas**: Use your imagination. O,O Or i could just say that it was most likely Donnie. x) And btw, this is the chapter we talked about if you still remember. xD

**Chumic**: Thank you! I'm very happy to hear you like it. :D

* * *

They had left her out of it again.

Ever since they had found out about the disappearance of the bug creature, the turtles had done regular patrols around the sewers, setting up extra surveillance here and there. So far it had all been fruitless, only managing to cause tensions to rise between the brothers.

That was easy for Alina to notice, since one of them always stayed behind with her just in case, giving her a good opportunity to scan their emotional states. Leo and Raph were simply impossible, talking to them not doing anything and them hardly talking to each other at all. There was no way to tell what was chafing between them.

Their friction was also affecting their two younger brothers. Donatello had become more reclusive, spending all his time working. It wasn't like he was unfriendly or anything when spoken to, he just didn't look for company.

Michelangelo, on the other hand, was on his way to becoming what one would call a problem child. Constant patrols, none of his brothers giving him the attention he wanted and no going up to the surface was making Mikey a very restless turtle.

That day it was his turn to stay in the lair and to Alina's surprise, she hadn't heard anything from him all day. And when she finally did, it was far from anything she expected.

They were beginning to run low on their food supplies and making dinner was already taking some creativity from Alina. She was making omelets from the last eggs, scrounging up anything she thought she could add to them. Someone would soon have to go topside.

"Aaallliiieee!"

The sudden shout startled Alina. She peeked out of the kitchen to see what was the matter with the orange-masked turtle. "Mikey?! Is everything okay?"

She couldn't see him anywhere, but soon she heard an answer.

"Did you know about all the things Raphie-boy keeps hidden in his room?"

"Oh Mikey, nononono", Alina shook her head, raising her voice to be heard as she returned to the kitchen. "You stay out of there, you know Raph's going to pummel you for snooping around in his room."

Alina went to flip the eggs on the pan when Michelangelo appeared into the kitchen. "What do you think he'll do when he finds his beer stash gone?"

Alina's eyes darted to the nunchaku-wielding turtle, who was leaning his shoulder casually against the wall, his hand around a beer bottle and a smug grin on his slightly flushed face.

"Are… are you _drunk_?!" She nearly dropped her spatula, placing it on the counter in shock.

"I don't know", Mikey answered with a cheery tone. "Does it make you feel incredibly good? If so, then yes, I am totally drunk."

The bizarreness of the situation was too much. Alina simply didn't know what to do. Not even if she should've been angry at Mikey, or Raphael, or just generally amused. "How many did you have?"

"Who cares? Didn't you hear me", Michelangelo skipped to Alina, throwing his arm over her shoulder, his breath giving her a fairly good guess of how much he had had. "I feel great! In fact, why isn't there any music, there should be music, don't you think? Let me fix that."

He left Alina standing in her stunned state and went for the cd-player. Soon there were rather provocative tunes filling the air. "Yeah! This is much better!"

Alina was still petrified as Michelangelo started to dance.

"No way…" she muttered under her breath, then her eyes widened as the dancing turtle put the bottle down and approached her with open arms. "No! Way!"

There was little Alina could do when Mikey's hands reached around her thighs and lifted her up against his plastron, her legs instinctively pressing against his sides. Every protest she had was effectively wiped away when they started spinning around the room and she was forced to wrap her arms around Mikey's neck to stay in balance.

Despite Michelangelo clearly having fun, the spinning was soon getting to his intoxicated head and eventually they hit a wall, coming to a stop. Alina's back was against the wall, while the orange-masked turtle had one arm next to her head to steady him and the other embarrassingly obviously on her posterior, supporting her.

He lowered his head to rest against her shoulder, laughing. "Okay I admit. That didn't make me feel so great."

Alina was about to point out that sleeping it off would be a great idea when Mikey suddenly nuzzled her neck, inhaling deeply. "Mmm… did you know you smell nice."

"Uhh… that's great", Alina tried to lean away as Mikey's beak traced the side of her neck up to her ear. "And you smell like beer. You should try a good, cold shower for starters."

"Now where's the fun in that?" Michelangelo snorted and pulled his head up, with a look as serious as someone drunk could manage. Then his face lightened up again. "You need to have some fun from time to time. Loosen up and laugh a little."

"Sure, I'll do that, but why don't you first…"

Michelangelo stopped listening to her, moving them away from the wall and towards the dinner table. He used one hand to turn the chair at the end of the table to face the other way and placed her down to sit on it. "Now wait just there."

Alina sighed, but did as asked, planning to get Mikey to lie down and get some sleep somehow. It seemed, though, that sleep was the last thing on the ninja's mind. Quickly he made his way back to the cd-player, chose another song to his liking and turned up the volume.

Then he started dancing again, differently this time. Alina's mouth was gaping as Michelangelo moved his hips fluently to the music while slowly taking off his wristbands.

The whole thing was looking unmistakably like a striptease show.

It continued for a while, Michelangelo teasingly removing the rest of his gear, all the while dancing, shaking, stretching, posing, just about doing anything he could think of. He even threw his belt at Alina, who caught it dumbfounded. The last thing to go was his mask.

Untying the not behind his head, Michelangelo stepped closer until he was hovering over Alina, feet on both sides of the chair and leaning into the table behind her.

"I'd offer you a lap dance next, but I messed up", Mikey looked almost disappointed. "Where would you put the tips?"

The concentrated look on the drunken turtle's face as he was apparently trying hard to solve the problem, was what finally made Alina break down. She burst out in an uncontrollable laughing fit.

"See?" Michelangelo forgot his dilemma right away and joined her laughter. "You are still able to laugh."

Alina didn't answer, she simply couldn't stop laughing. How could someone act so promiscuously and yet so innocently? She leaned her forehead against Mikey's plastron, wiping away tears that were forming from too much laughter.

Michelangelo placed his hand on the back of her neck and gave a small kiss on her head. "Well, whaddya know, you taste good too."

"M-Mikey, please…" Alina did the best she could at the impossible task of trying to speak and muffle her laughter at the same time. "Please, be serious just for a while, before I fall off the chair."

Suddenly both of them flinched as the music on the background came to an abrupt stop and a strict voice snapped at them.

"Would someone care to explain what the hell is going on in here?!"

Alina's laughter died there, but Mikey seemed unaffected by the interruption. He straightened up and turned to greet his brother with a smile. "Leo! Bro! How's it going? Came across anything exciting?"

Alina dropped the belt in her hands and sprung to her feet, noticing just then that she had forgotten all about the eggs. "Oh, crap!" She dashed to the stove, trying to save anything that might still be edible.

Scraping the eggs off the pan, she was glad she didn't have to look at Leo. She had to get her thoughts composed first.

"I'm still waiting for an answer", the oldest turtle demanded mercilessly.

"Chill out, ever heard of fun? That's what's going on here. Some innocent, beer-fueled fun."

Alina had never wanted to facepalm as badly as then.

"What!?" came Leonardo's voice, followed by the sound of Mikey moving next to the counter and picking up the bottle he had left there.

"Well, I happened to find this…"

A crash and the sound of glass breaking drew Alina's eyes away from the pan and back to the brothers. "W-wha… Leo!?"

The noise had come from the bottle that had been smashed against the wall along with Mikey's hand. Alina stared shocked at Leonardo who was still holding his youngest brother's wrist, ignoring the fact that they both now had bleeding cuts.

"You are drunk!?"

Michelangelo looked equally shocked, the surprise sobering him up considerably. "S-sorry, Leo. I…"

That was as far as he got, before snapping his mouth shut. Even in his state, he suddenly realized that the last thing he wanted, was to blurt out Raph's secret and set the two hard-headed brothers against each other. There had already been enough of that.

Alina could've as well been reading his thoughts, that fast she came to Mikey's aid. "If you want to be angry at someone, you might as well be angry at me. That was my beer Mikey happened to find."

There was a tense silence as Leonardo turned his angry glare at her for a few seconds before releasing Mikey.

"Michelangelo. My room. Five minutes", the blue-masked turtle announced forebodingly and stormed out of the kitchen.

Alina grabbed a paper towel and hurried to Mikey's side, looking out for the glass shards on the floor. Taking the injured hand she cleaned and examined it, relieved to see that the cuts were small and would stop bleeding quickly.

"That was… weird", Mikey stated unsure. "You shouldn't have taken the fault, he's really angry this time."

"We both know the alternative would've been disastrous. Don't worry, things have just been a bit tense since the mystery monster. I bet it's the tension getting to him", Alina comforted both with his words and her soothing skills. "Besides, you know I can take care of myself just fine. Just stick to the story."

Mikey hesitated, so Alina started pushing him. "Go on now. You need to go get a few band-aids before you venture into the dragon's den."

Michelangelo gave a half-hearted smile at that. "What do you think are the chances Raph won't find out about this and blow our cover?"

Alina returned the smile and watched Mikey walk out of the kitchen. He barely got through the doorway when he stopped and turned to look back. "Scratch that last one."

As soon as Mikey got out of sight, leaving Alina to ponder what he had meant, a certain red-masked turtle appeared around the corner, stepping into the kitchen.

"Oh… Raph", Alina hoped the surprises would already seize for one day. "So how much trouble am I going to get from you?"

Raphael stood with arms crossed as usual, eyeing the glass and the gear scattered on the floor. "None."

That was not what Alina had expected and the confusion was evident on her face. "Why?"

"Why should you?" Raphael raised an eye ridge quizzically. "From what I heard, ya haven't done anythin'. Unlike Mikey."

"Please, don't tell Leo."

"What? That the booze was really mine? I don't mind pissin' our fearless leader off, but I think this time Mikey deserves to be left to whatever punishment he's gonna get."

"He's just…" Alina searched for the right word before giving up. "I don't know. It's not just him. Everyone's been… off lately. Ironically, you less than the others."

"Huh", Raphael almost did a convincing job, feigning hurt. "So yer sayin' I'm just off all the time."

"A little", Alina let a teasing smile spread on her face and gave a small jab to his arm before kneeling down to collect the biggest shards off the floor. "But I like you the way you are."

Raphael sighed, secretly pleased by her words and got down next to her. "You go free those eggs from their misery, your skin is too soft for these."

Alina let Raphael take the shards from her and complied. "Thanks."

Strangely she realized what she had said to be more true than she had thought. Raphael hadn't been affected as much as the others. Or maybe it was just that everyone had gotten so used to him flying off the handle now and then that it wasn't that noticeable anymore.

In any case, she was glad for it.


End file.
